Earlier today, we heard from Bill Chisholm, Aditya Mittal, Wyc Grousbeck and Brad Stevens. This was the first time Celtics fans had heard from Chisholm since his ownership group purchased the franchise and he assumed the role of governor.
Whenever a new ownership group takes power — be it in sports, business, or any other aspect of life — there’s always a concern about the potential changes coming down the pipeline. For Celtics fans, those concerns were multi-layered.
After all, not only do the Celtics need an ownership group that is willing and capable of spending into the tax when the time arises. They also need a group that empowers Brad Stevens — arguably one of the top-three Presidents of Basketball Operations in the NBA — to continue making the moves he deems necessary to get the Celtics back to the top of the Basketball mountain.
“We have the right people in place to make those decisions,” Chisholm said. “I want to be supportive of Brad and Rich and their teams…On the patience point, I would say that I think patience is important. There’s a strategy, there’s a game plan that we’ve laid out, and I think it makes a ton of sense.”
Honestly, that was the ideal answer from Chisholm. The Celtics have an amazing front office staff in place, and that starts with Stevens, Mike Zarren and runs throughout the whole staff. That group built the roster that dominated the league and won a championship just 18 months ago.
These concerns about ownership direction became more pressing after what proved to be a challenging summer for the organization. Losing Jayson Tatum to an Achilles tendon injury during the Eastern Conference Semifinals set off a chain reaction that led to multiple cost-cutting moves to begin the offseason. Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Luke Kornet and Al Horford have all left the franchise, either by trade or free agency, as the Celtics ducked under the second luxury tax apron.
When a championship team starts shedding key contributors just over a year after hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy, you couldn’t help but wonder whether those cost-cutting measures were a directive from the new ownership group or whether they were part of a larger plan to reset the tax sheet, get younger and begin building a new-look rotation around Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Fortunately, Stevens provided some clarity to that question during the press conference.
“You have to give yourself the right flexibility and opportunity to jump at the right deals,” Stevens said. “You don’t always know when those are gonna present themselves. So, the second apron was the key…There’s no tax goal. There’s nothing that’s set in stone that we have to get to a certain level. The level, obviously, where we were earlier this summer, that’s not close to where we are now. And listen, we’ve said goodbye to awesome people and really good players. But I think we’ve added people who are excited to add their strings together and see what we can do.”
Nevertheless, the topic of the luxury tax and Chisholm’s willingness to operate within it were inevitable discussion points throughout the presser. After all, the Celtics will undoubtedly need to embrace a larger payroll once the team is ready to throw its hat back into the title contention ring.
Encouragingly, Chisholm didn’t flinch whenever the topic of the luxury tax, or his willingness to pay it, arose from the media in attendance.
“Let’s go for it,” Chisholm said. “But let’s go for it in a reasonable way…Let’s do whatever we can to win championships and raise banners. And, raise as many as we can…Ultimately, we’re gonna do everything we can to win, that is job number one. And not just win games, win championships.”
Of course, those words must be met with action when the time arises. Yet, as a lifelong Celtics fan and someone who is from the area, you get the sense (even from all the way over in the UK, watching via YouTube) that he’s being genuine. It feels like they will truly do whatever it takes to make the franchise as successful as possible.
I mean, he literally said as much.
“I will absolutely be there,” Chisholm said. “I will do whatever it takes. Whatever the Boston Celtics need me to do. If they need me to do press conferences every day, I’ll do them. If they need me to stay out of the way, then I’ll do that.”
While Chisholm’s commitment to spending when necessary provides long-term reassurance, the reality is that the immediate future presents different challenges. The roster construction heading into this season means those championship-level investments may need to wait. There’s been too much of a talent drain. The front court is inexperienced, young and on paper, lacks the defensive stability that you try to build a championship team around.
However, both Stevens and Chisholm, at different points, shared their optimism over the current roster. It’s clear that they believe in some of the younger guys who are in line to receive a bigger opportunity than in past years. One thing I really liked was how Chisholm mentioned playing with an underdog mentality, because for any of us who lived through the early Brad Stevens years, we know just how much fun those never-say-die teams can be.
“We’re not gonna put a ceiling on the team,” Chisholm said. “We’ve got a lot of talent. And we’ve got some very strong character people. I’m very excited about what this team can do…There’s a smaller margin for error, but I do think this team has the potential to be pretty special. I think we’re gonna embrace the underdog mentality as well.”
Of course, the way we view this current roster could drastically shift before the end of the season — especially if Jayson Tatum returns to the rotation. And while I’ve made my thoughts on the value of him sitting out for the full season, if he does choose to return, he will undoubtedly add some much-needed experience and talent to the front-court rotation.
Still, a key point to note is that Stevens made it clear that from a front office standpoint, there is no set timeline for a Tatum return. Instead, the focus will be on ensuring he’s healthy and back to, or at least near, the best version of himself (physically speaking) before putting him back out there on the court.
“No timeline on Jayson from my perspective,” Stevens said. “My number one goal…Jayson Tatum fully healthy. And he’s well on his way.”
The harsh truth is, without Tatum, a championship is off the cards. Sure, the Celtics can be a playoff team in the upcoming season, but they will need Tatum to ensure they’re at a championship level. He’s simply too important to everything the team does, and both his playmaking and scoring ability are near impossible to replicate — that’s why he’s a top-10 player in the world.
I do think there’s upside to a retooling season, though. Not only will the Celtics reset their cap sheet (to some degree), get younger and potentially unearth some hidden gems, but they will also build a new offensive and defensive system, and that could potentially squeeze even more out of both Tatum and Brown.
It’s clear that the overall goal — from top to bottom of the organization — is raising banners. The Celtics still have their winning formula and star-level core. Now, it’s about finding the right supporting cast, with the skill sets to accentuate what the team is trying to do.
The upcoming season could get bumpy at times. It could even get unbearable for stretches. But with everyone pulling in the same direction, this retooling phase will likely be short-lived. And with that, I’ll leave you with a comment from Wyc…A comment that will resonate with Celtics fans around the globe…A comment we can all get behind.
“I want a third ring,” Grousbeck said. “And I want a fourth. I’ve got two, it’s a nice start. And this group is committed to getting it together.”
